Slow & Steady

This past weekend the man and I had 12 miles on our schedule. After a carby dinner the night before, a hearty breakfast and packing fuel for the trek, we headed out to Waterton Canyon for a hilly long run.

Saturday night, we indulged in one of our favorite savory dishes: creamy pasta with mushrooms and peas! We’ve gotten so good at this recipe, which includes garlic, heavy cream, butter, white wine, plus basil and shredded Romano cheese on top. Heavenly!

Saturday morning we got up early and had breakfast that would fuel the foundation of our run: cereal with almond milk and bananas on top, half an English muffin with almond butter, and coffee, duh.

We also packed tons of water, thinly sliced apples, and fruit leather strips (2 each). These little bites of food provide good instantly absorbed sugars to support any energy depletions throughout the run. I believe we had snacks around miles 4, 8, and 10. Nick always says he can see an instant difference in my face after I eat a snack during a run, like the life comes back into my flesh. I’d say that’s accurate.

The 12-mile long run was a great endurance workout. It was 6 miles of uphill trail running, and then 6 miles back down the canyon to the parking lot. It was cold, very windy on the way up, and my legs were tired from 3 hours of gardening the day before (a story for another time).

The previous week, with the depressing election results and anniversary of some trying times in 2015, had been an emotional one, and it manifested itself on our long run. I felt like every step was difficult and that I wasn’t making much progress. But, as per usual, after finishing the run, things felt more positive.

I realized that this was my longest training run ever, in the history of Vanessa. I also realized that the climb up the canyon was a lot more significant in retrospect than it seemed during the run. Such is life. I finished feeling strong and remembering that we run because it’s too easy to believe we can’t.

After our big accomplishment, I soaked in lavender and epsom salts in the tub while my amazing man cooked up our traditional Cowboy Breakfast, improved with some of our Sriracha goat cheese (from The Goat Cheese Lady Farm!), Cholula, and Nick’s bread with butter.

Sorry this weekend update is so late, but I hope I’ve inspired you to run well and eat well!